Yastrzemski homers and drives in 2 runs as the Giants beat the punchless Padres 7-2 #Yastrzemski #homers #drives #runs #Giants #beat #punchless #Padres

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Mike Yastrzemski homered and drove in two runs for the San Francisco Giants, who beat the sloppy, listless San Diego Padres 7-2 on Thursday night to open a one-game lead over Arizona for the NL’s third wild-card spot.

Opener Jakob Junis and three relievers combined on a seven-hitter. The Giants were up 7-0 before the Padres got their first hit, a single by Matthew Batten with two outs in the fifth off former Padres pitcher Sean Manaea (5-5).

Yastrzemski had an RBI single in the third, when the Giants scored six runs, five of them unearned due to two errors by first baseman Matthew Batten. The Padres had three errors overall, tying their season high.

The Giants sent 10 batters to the plate in the third and had five hits and a sacrifice fly to go along with Batten’s two errors. Blake Sabol had an RBI double while Joc Pederson, Yastrzemski and Wade Meckler had run-scoring singles.

Yastrzemski homered to left off Matt Waldron leading off the fifth for a 7-0 lead. It was his 12th.

Junis struck out three and walked one in four hitless, scoreless innings. Manaea allowed one run and three hits in 3 1/3 innings, while walking five and striking out two. He loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth but the Padres failed to score.

The Padres were coming off a 1-5 trip through Milwaukee and St. Louis that badly damaged whatever hopes they have of returning to the playoffs. The Padres have been a massive disappointment after reaching the NL Championship Series last year and then beefing up their payroll to about $250 million, the third-highest in the majors. They are 8 1/2 games out of the final wild-card spot.

Padres starter Pedro Avila (0-2) allowed six runs, one earned, on six hits in three innings. He struck out five and walked two.

SUSPENSION

Padres reliever Robert Suárez dropped his appeal and began serving a 10-game suspension for using banned sticky stuff. Suárez was ejected Aug. 23 for having sticky stuff on his left wrist and arm before he threw a pitch in the eighth inning against Miami. Suárez denied using any banned substances, saying he only had sunscreen on his arm because it was a day game.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Padres: RHP Yu Darvish has a bone spur in his pitching elbow and had a cortisone shot Thursday. He’ll rest for three to five days and the Padres should have a better idea after that where he stands, manager Bob Melvin said. Darvish was placed on the 15-day IL Monday, retroactive to Saturday. “There’s some relief in the sense that there’s nothing going on with the ligament,” Darvish said through an interpreter.